Cattles talks collapse

Cattles, which specialises in lending to people with weak credit histories, said that after lengthy talks a significant group of its bondholders had rejected a plan that would have taken the company private.

It had been looking at a deal under which a newly incorporated company would buy its entire share capital for a token sum of up to 1p, which would have enabled it to continue running down its loan book out of the public spotlight. It was forced to close its doors to new customers last year.

Trading in its shares was suspended last year after its market value had collapsed from more than £1billion to just £5million, with a probe into accounting irregularities discovering a £700million hole in its balance sheet.

Cattles said it was in the interests of all parties to reach an agreement and it “continues to engage in ongoing constructive discussions with representatives of certain of its key financial creditors still with a view to achieving a consensual restructuring of Cattles’ liabilities”.